Thirty Minutes
by Substitute Shipping
Summary: The building of a relationship in thirty minute pieces, showing that love isn't always pretty... nor is it easy. -Grimmzuno-
1. Thirty Minutes

Thirty minutes.

That was how long it took to change anyone's life. Or in his case, un-life. Some said more, some said less. But honestly, he could care less what others thought. He said thirty minutes, and that was EXACTLY how long it was, others be damned.

Taking a break from beating on that Kurosaki freak, he'd wandered throughout this Japan place. He hadn't seen anyone interesting, nor anything fun to kill and was quite simply, _bored as __**hell**__. _He hadn't managed to kill Kurosaki, but that was because the fight had gotten boring (and not because the kid was even _close_ to an even match.) He'd went looking for a better fight, despite the constant orders to return to Hueco Mundo. Aizen could sit on it; he'd return when he was damn good and ready.

So he'd ended up in this district with far too much _reiatsu _in the air.

The thing that bugged him? He'd tracked it down to someone who was _fuckin' average. _Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez didn't think average was anything except boring. In fact the only thing that wasn't average about her was how different her hair was. It was cut short, more for what appeared to be convenience than anything else.

Oh right, and it was _blue_.

Despite the fact that she was average, he couldn't say he didn't find her _hot._

So he followed her for a bit if only cause he wanted to know why this chick was putting out so much damn _reiatsu_. She went to school, studied, hung out with girls her age, was far too quiet, and _pissed him the hell off._

Only because she made him curious. And curiosity pissed him off.

So when she'd been walking home, and some kinda Not-Hollow-But-Equally-Annoying started to walk up behind her, he stepped in it's way. No one would interfere with this. Not a Hollow, not anything looking like it could be a Hollow someday.

Even in his unreleased state, he quickly tore it a new one. Not that anyone should've expected any less from the _Sexta Espada_. He let out a laugh, and grinned before turning back to his blue haired pri... prey.

Who was looking at him.

Transformed.

In a short-as-hell skirt.

Looking all hot and shit.

"Wh-what the hell? How the _fuck _did you change your clothes so fast?" he bellowed at her. She blinked before holding up a crystalline rod and blushing. "I'm... a Sailor Senshi... uhm... S-s-sailor Mercury. Thank you for p-p-p-protecting me, sir."

Her eyes connected with the large fragment of bone on his face and he laughed. "What'sa matter, little girl? You never seen a Hollow?"

She responded by fainting.

"Oh, _fuck me_," he exclaimed before picking her up. He'd scared her into unconsciousness and for some reason that bothered him. So he'd take her someplace, then ditch her and head back to Hueco Mundo. Things were far too mundane here in the real world. At least in Hueco Mundo he could eat a half a dozen Hollows for fun.

So he took her to the place he'd seen her meeting with her friends who happened to still be there. And as kindly as he could, he told them the crazy-sexpot (_fuck!_ He'd said that out loud!) had fallen down after fighting something.

He'd pronounced his kindness with a glare, and took off with _Sonido_. He didn't care that they saw it; whatever transformation the blue-hair had used had probably been seen by her friends so it couldn't have surprised them too much. He finally opened the Garganta when he was good and far away, then headed back to Hueco Mundo.

He took out his frustrations on a good deal of Hollow; those stupid enough to cross his path. And when he'd entered Los Noches, Ulquiorra had asked him where he had been. He grinned, before telling him that he'd gotten him some fine mortal tail. Ulquiorra had walked away before he could get too vulgar.

In the back of Grimmjow's mind, he knew someday, he'd make it true. Someday he'd make her faint again, the blue-haired Sailor Senshi. He knew he would.

And he'd find out exactly what the hell a Sailor Senshi was.


	2. Single

Her eyes fluttered open to the worried, surprised faces of Usagi, Rei, Minako, and Mako-chan. Immediately, they began to bombard her with questions - who was that strange, blue-haired, creepy guy? What had she been fighting? Did he hurt her? Was he single?

Rei gave Mako-chan a withering look.

She shook her head, trying to clear the clouds. A youma had snuck up on her, and so she had transformed...

Only to see _him._ He was trashing the youma like it was a kitten. A big, evil, mean kitten, but a kitten. And he was _laughing. _It wasn't until he had turned around that she'd noticed the hole in his stomach, the bone on his face. He himself was a youma, and yet, there was something about him... something terrifyingly powerful and yet not quite _evil. _A feral, wild strength that had overwhelmed her senses the moment he'd looked into her eyes, and she'd fainted.

Why had he saved her?

She smiled at the others. "I'm fine - I just had a scare, that's all. I don't know his name; he saved me from a youma."

"But, he was a youma!" exclaimed Rei, eyes narrowed angrily.

"I don't know that he was... he didn't seem like anything I'd ever encountered before," she replied, not really here in this place and time.

He reminded her of a wildcat, lashing out at all others because of his feral nature, untamed and uncontrolled. And there was just... _something._ Something... attractive... about him. His rebellious hairstyle, his angry eyes, his I-don't-give-a-damn stance, his crazy, wild smile...

...

...

..._Was_ he single?


	3. Desperation

"_Fuck Noitra!"_

The words left Grimmjow 's mouth unbidden as he limped through a non-specific neighborhood in a non-specific part of Japan. He'd admit (only to himself) that he was probably finished this time. His fight with Kurosaki had taken it out of him, but he would've been okay if it hadn't been for Noitra.

"_Fuck Noitra!" _he cried out, with a cough to solidify his state. He didn't have much farther to go before he'd arrive at his destination. If he was to die, he'd die on his terms, in a location of his choosing; his eyes viewing the one thing that had been on his mind ever since that day not too long ago. He'd see her once again, and goddammit, he'd find out what she _was._

Up the stairs, he entered the courtyard of a non-specific shrine. A raven-haired woman looked up at his arrival, her eyes widening as she realized exactly how poor of condition that he was in. She ran over to support him as he fell to a knee. His eyes met hers.

"Where is she?" he demanded horsely. The woman looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on her young features. "Ami-chan?" she asked, and he nodded vigorously. She blinked before responding. "At cram school. She-" He growled quietly, and anything she might've said seemed unimportant. He pushed himself to his feet, before attempting to walk again. He stumbled a few steps later, almost taking a deadly tumble down the stairs that he'd climbed to get here.

She ran to his side, and his eyes met hers.

"Get her."

And for the first time, Grimmjow allowed his desperation to show.

"Get her, _now!"_

And Rei Hino did as she was told. Because what he didn't say, and she knew without a doubt was that he didn't want to chance death without seeing _his_ blue haired angel again.


	4. Demon

She was studying quietly to herself that day, already having finished the work the teacher gave, when Rei came into the room, looking flustered.

"E-excuse me, Ma'am, but... I need Ami-chan right away. THere's been an accident."

Ami stood up. "Accident? What do you mean?"

Rei shook her head. Something in her eyes...

"Please excuse me, Harada-sensei."

"Of course, Ami-chan."

She picked up her work and followed Rei out, before turning to her.

"...It's... it's him, isn't it?"

Rei nodded. "Ami-chan... I think he's dying."

She stopped. "D-dying? WHat happened?"

"We don't know. He just... appeared. Wandered intot he shrine, hurt, and demanding to see you. Wouldn't take no for an answer. Mako-chan and Usagi are taking care of him. He's... he's lost a lot of blood, Ami-chan."

She looked grim. That was a bad sign; Ami hurried, Rei following after. She couldn't get their first encounter out of her head. He had been so strong, with an energy she'd never felt before; wild and untamed, yet controlled; as though he were surfing the wave of his own power. He seemed to be enjoying it, she remembered; had seemed to love the thrill of fighting that had come with his quick defeat of the Youma. Indeed, he'd looked disappointed the fight was over so soon. And yet, he'd still been surprised when he turned around and saw her, and she wondered if it had only been surprise she'd seen in those wild blue eyes that day.

She wondered if he'd been as impressed with her as she'd been with him.

She raced ahead of Rei, following the path to the shrine on instinct, seeing only that feral grin, the pale blue hair that matched his eyes, and the mask with a grin that matched its wearer's. She raced into the shrine, barely managing to stop before she plowed down Usagi.

"Where is he?" she asked, and the worry must have shown in her actions and voice, because Usagi merely pointed.

In a few minues, she was there.

He lay on a pallet, bandages covering his wounds, while Mako-chan sat on the other side of the room, keeping watch on him.

"What happened?" she asked him.

He looked up at her and grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

His voice was as sarcastic as the once she'd ever heard him speak, but it was labored, and he was clearly badly injured. She kneeled next to him.

"What... are you?" she asked, unable to keep her questions at bay, although guilty for asking such a strange question. She wanted to know as much about him as she could; he had touched her life, if only briefly, and she didn't want the regret of not knowing.

"I'm a Hollow," he said. "You'da known if you'd been paying attention instead of fainting like a goddamn wuss."

Dspite his harsh words, one of his hands took hers as he winced in pain, as if seeking comfort in spite of himself.

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaques; the Sexta Espada."

She looked down at the hand.

"Is that... some kind of demon?"

He laughed harshly. "Good a term as any, I suppose. Who the hell are you to ask? And what the fuck is a 'Sailor Senshi'?"

She couldn't fight back tears.

"Who am I to ask? I'm Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mecury; the Sailor Senshi of water and justice. I use these powers to fight Youma and save the people of this city... and I think I'm falling for you, demon or not."


	5. Fight or Flight

_"Who am I to ask? I'm Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mecury; the Sailor Senshi of water and justice. I use these powers to fight Youma and save the people of this city... and I think I'm falling for you, demon or not."_

Grimmjow looked down and began to chuckle quietly, if only to hold off his own irritation. (He called it that, because he didn't know _what_ to call what he was feeling.) Finally, his eyes met hers; a sneer on his lips. "And all this time, I dreamt that you were tough. Turns out, you're an idiot like the rest," he grimaced as he pushed himself off the pallet, beginning to limp towards the door. Makoto moved towards him, and he pointed to her as if to say 'stay put.'

"I don't know, nor do I give a damn about what your world is like. But you can't fall in love with someone you saw once. It ain't possible," he yelled at her, and the niggling feeling in the back of his mind that wouldn't _quit_. He pushed open the door, and for just a moment met the surprised eyes of Usagi.

"The world ain't no goddamn fairy tale. There's no princess, no prince. There's no happily ever after. There's no gay little horse ride off into the rainbow horizon. And if there was any of those things, you're no princess, and I'm sure as hell no prince."

He pushed himself past the two senshi at the door, still not having heard one word from his blue haired… he growled before he could finish that thought. She wasn't his; he didn't want her to be. He'd seen her, and she'd proven to him that she was just like the rest. Hell, she'd probably hook up with that idiot Ichigo, if either one of them could get their heads out of the ass.

A few feet away from the door, he used what he had of his energy to Sonido away. He wasn't interested in their hospitality any longer; he'd gotten what he came for. When he came to a stop a few blocks away, he completely suppressed his reishi (not that he thought that she could detect _that_) and sat down.

Only then had he noticed that his bandages had torn and that again, he was bleeding. Today was not his day.

At all.


	6. Cursed River

He was out the door, but she was close behind him. If she were Usagi, she would have collapsed into tears. If she were Makoto, she'd have stopped and sat in disappointment. If she were Rei, she would be raging. In fact, Rei _was_ raging, just a little.

But she wasn't any of them.

A few days ago, if the situation were described, she'd probably have said she didn't know what she would do; but this time, she did know. She knew what she _had_ to do, and that was enough. She had sat shocked for just a second, but she had followed him. It wasn't until she was out the door that she even realized she'd transformed; she was glad of it, though. It was easier to find people as Mercury, and civilians got out of her way. She felt a raindrop touch her cheek; she wouldn't believe that it was a tear, even if the skies were perfectly clear. She knew her geography; de Nile was a river in Egypt.

He was faster than her, but she had her display, and his energy was distinctive, even if it was fading. She could follow _his_ trail anywhere.

All the while, something he said kept nagging at the back of her mind, but she didn't know what it was or why it was nagging her. It wasn't what he had said about only seeing him once; she understood that statement rationally, but reason didn't touch instinct, feelings, or the heart. She knew that well enough by now, from counseling Usagi and listening to Mako-chan talk about the senior who broke her heart. There was no reason left in her now, only a surety; a knowledge of what she _had_ to do. She wouldn't let him go.

By the time she had gotten to him, it really had startd to rain; she knew he was there because the trail had simply ended, and none of his energy could be found anywhere. She looked around; it didn't take long. His hair was even more distinctive than hers.

He looked hurt; he'd probably loosened his bandages while running away. He was sitting on a park bench and looking angry and lonely and as much in the middle of that Egyptian river as she was.

She sat down next to him; he looked angry, but she grabbed his arm gently.

"Please... don't run. I just want to talk."

She looked up into the cloudy sky.

"I'm sorry I was so sudden. So... abrupt... with you. And yet, I'm not sorry that I said what I said. And I don't think that, for all your speeches back there, that you are, either."

And then what her mind had been trying to tell her hit her, and she smiled, looking sideways at him.

"After all, you have been dreaming of me."


	7. Flood

"Hmph. I was wrong."

Ami turned to look at the Espada. His lips curved to a grin. "You followed me, despite the fact that you have _gotta _know that I'm quite possibly the most dangerous person you've talked to, and I'm angry. Means you got a pair. Means you're just about as much of an idiot as Kurosaki. Just as damnably persistent, too," he stated, his grin widening with each word.

He stood up, allowing the water now pouring in sheets from the sky to cleanse his wounds which were starting to heal. Maybe he'd have a chance back at Noitra yet.

'_So, she fell in love me. What a joke. The second I release Pantera, she'll wet herself and run home crying to mommy. Which would be funny as hell,' _he thought to himself before he turned to look at the bench she was still sitting on, watching. "That's a joke, y'know. I didn't dream about you. Don't know where your damn head picked up that thought."

That niggling in the back of his head returned; this time with words. _'Because you told her that, maybe?' _His reply was a grimace, and a quiet muttering of "Fuck you." His eyes met hers at that moment, and hers expressed just a little bit of hurt at his words. That niggling spoke again, this time informing him that he had hurt her feelings with his blurting out. This time, he only growled.

"Did you think that if you followed me, maybe batted those pretty little blue eyes, or Aizen forbid, pouted, that suddenly everything would change and I'd be putty in your hands? Well, tough luck dumbass. This is how it is," he said, motioning to himself; to the wounds that were still visible below the bandages that had torn and loosened. "This is who I am. Any questions?"

He turned his back to her, allowing her to process his words. Hopefully she'd get it this time. He was _unavailable._ That niggling in the back of his head spoke again, saying that she deserved better anyway, and for once he agreed, if only to himself. She was a little girl; she couldn't know what she wanted, and she certainly couldn't want him anyway.

Not that he wanted her to want him, of course. She was a Pri…. She was his prey, he mentally correct himself. He wanted to know why she had so much _reishi _pouring out from her; not as much as him, but still a significant amount for a mortal. He wanted to know what she was that it would cause that to happen, and when he'd found out what that was, he wanted to know WHY. But now, he couldn't care less.

'_Then why did you go and see her when you were sure you were dead?' _that niggling voice in the back of his head asked. Grimmjow grunted but didn't reply. He resisted the urge to look over his shoulder, mildly curious as to why she'd remained so silent. If she was waiting for an apology, it wouldn't happen. She didn't deserve one, and he wasn't giving one.

Giving up wouldn't be easy for her, he thought. But she would have to. She'd figure out that she was wrong from the beginning; he didn't care at all. That niggling returned again as this thought passed his mind, asking him one simple question.

'_If she doesn't interest you, then why are you angry she's about to give up on you?'_

"Shut the fuck up!" he screamed, ignoring how crazy it might sound. Then with his right hand, he slapped the back of his own head. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" The rain increased as if it were responding to him, washing away the rivulet of blood that had started to stream down his chest from the wound that his screaming had opened up.

Both him and the voice in his head agreed for just a moment.

'_Fuck Noitra.'_


	8. Challenge

She watched him get angry. Shout at himself; scream in rage and frustration at the world. She heard all of his arguments; all of the things he said to throw her off.

_"Did you think that if you followed me, maybe batted those pretty little blue eyes, or Aizen forbid, pouted, that suddenly everything would change and I'd be putty in your hands?"_

His words ran through her like lightning, jolting and stinging, but she made herself listen to all of them... and then she stood up. Everything that he'd said to her, ever, from the first time they'd met until now, raced through her mind like lightning. Flash, flash, she was being rescued from the youma;

_"What'sa matter, little girl? You never seen a Hollow?"_

Flash, flash, Rei was telling her something about him as they were heading to the shrine.

_"'Get her,' he demanded, so I did."_

Flash, flash, she was by his side, and his hand gripped hers in pain.

_"And all this time, I dreamt that you were tough."_

She stood up, glaring at him.

"You know, for someone who always speaks of how others are such idiots, you certainly don't seem to be using your brain."

He turned to look at her in angry shock, but she continued anyway.

"I know how tough you are; I know that you're one of the most dangerous people I've ever met. You act like I can't see who you are. You tell me to give up on you because of my knowledge even as you scream at me for being naive and clueless and accuse me of acting like a child. Which is it, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Sexta Espada? Am I smart or stupid? A child or an adult? You tell me how dangerous you are, show me that this person, standing before me, wounded and bloody and dangerous, is who you really are. A blood-soaked warrior. And you act like I give a crap."

She flung her hands out wide with her next statement, sure that now, at least, she'd gotten his attention, eyes narrowed in a scowl of impatience. It was against her nature in some ways, what she'd just said, but she'd finally found someone worth fighting for... and he was being such an idiot about it!

"Fine. _Show _me what it is you can do; who Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez really is. I'm a big girl, Grimmjow. I've fought Youma scarier, uglier, more horrifying than you could ever be. I think I can handle it. Or are you so afraid of caring about someone that you'd rather run away with your tail between your legs?"


	9. Crime

_"Fine. Show me what it is you can do; who Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez really is. I'm a big girl, Grimmjow. I've fought Youma scarier, uglier, more horrifying than you could ever be. I think I can handle it. Or are you so afraid of caring about someone that you'd rather run away with your tail between your legs?"_

Grimmjow looked her dead in the eye, carefully considering her question. She was brave, to be sure. She was able to hold his gaze despite the fact that he could tell that she was angry, and it wasn't her style to be confrontational.

Normal beings would collapse at it, realizing how angry the girl was. But she was angry, and he had made her angry, and despite the fact that it was his fault, he couldn't forgive her this crime of being made angry by him. If he'd been listening to that tiny voice in his head, he'd realize that it was him fighting the inevitable.

But he couldn't forgive the princess of her crime, so he decided to take action to vent his own frustration.

"Uglier? Scarier? More horrifying? Woman, you don't even have an idea of who you're dealing with."

His reached out and grabbed her face; his massive hand almost covering the girls face. And in that hand, he slowly charged a weak Cero. With impressive control, he was able to keep it from exploding. He saw her eyes widen, but couldn't allow himself to be distracted.

"This is called a Cero. If I let it go, that whole damn block behind you will be rubble. So when I say I'm more powerful, uglier and nastier than anything you've ever seen before? You're an idiot not to believe me. And if I wanted to deny that I cared for you, wouldn't I kill you?"

With some struggle, he suppressed the Cero, removing his hand from her face. He denied in his mind that he'd left his hand on her face, because it wasn't as soft as he'd imagined. It was _impossibly softer. _And her lips were curved in a determinedly angry pout. 'Great,' he thought. As if it wasn't hard enough to get her out of his mind…

He looked down at a sudden burst of pain, before realizing the exertion of the Cero had done opened more of his wound. The combination of the Cero, his consecutive battles with Noitra and Ichigo, and the fact that he hadn't slept much in the past weeks since he'd first met…. He grimaced before he cut that train of thought off.

Point being, he needed to do something about his chest, and this situation wasn't helping at all.

"Look, I'm just tired."


	10. Plea

She couldn't breathe.

It had something to do with the incredible power, even more to do with the fact that it was aimed at her, but most of all, it had to do with the fact that he hadn't killed her.

Most definitely not the fact that he was intoxicatedly handsome when he was angry. Not a bit to do with that.

He had pulled his hand away, and she could still feel the heat of the thing he'd called "Cero", the immense energy that had surrounded him in that moment still not quie dissipated completely, and it tickled her skin like a wool coat, itchy and warm.

When she finally caught her breath, she sighed.

"I'm tired, too, Grimmjow. Why don't you go back to the shrine? We can help close your wounds back up... and then, you can leave if you want. Or you and I can talk. Or something. But it doesn't do either of us any good if you die of exhaustion and exsanguination here and now."

She looked up at the rain, flowing around her; standing in her element, somehow, she felt calmer than she had a minute ago.

"Do it for your own selfish reasons if you want. Do it for revenge, or spite, or simply the will to live. I don't care _why_."

She turned back towards him. "But do it. Please. If for nothing else, do it because if you die, you will die without knowing why you came back."

She closed her eyes, and the rain poured down on her, healing, soothing rain that washed her doubts and angers away. Her fists were clenched; she let them fall flat to her side.

"You saved my life, once. If you can't accept my feelings, at least let me repay you that debt."

Yes… for now she was calm. For the moment, the melancholy in her soul was washed away by the rain. She couldn't ask for more than that… only pray that he made the right choice.


	11. Pride

"_You saved my life, once. If you can't accept my feelings, at least let me repay you that debt."_

He chanced a glance at her eyes; he could easily tell that she wasn't lying. She was exhausted, probably not helped by the fact that he was an ass. She'd chased him down, and he'd yelled at her. He wasn't one to feel bad (about anything, really), but in this case he felt as if he should. But as much as it pissed him off, she was right. She owed him, and he didn't want her to have that on her conscience. (Plus, if he'd been listening to that small voice in his mind, he found it quite appealing that she owed him.)

So he nodded. "How far is it back to the shrine?" he questioned; embarrassed that for the first time, he realized he ran without paying attention to landmarks or distances. In Hueco Mundo, that was an easy way to get one's self killed.

Ami pointed to the north. "It's four blocks that way, but-"

Any words she might have uttered were cut off as he swept into Sonido, his strong arms sweeping her up as he broke speed barriers, the wind whipping past them at incredibly quick speeds. Just for a moment, he felt free from all of it; the woman in his arms lightweight, nothing that his invincible body couldn't handle.

What she probably didn't know was that they didn't immediately go to the shrine, as he passed it a few times. But, if she had been listening carefully, she would've heard the quiet "sorry" as they touched down in front of the shrine. Grimmjow set her down as he looked up to the harsh unforgiving eyes of Rei Hino.

And he swallowed his pride, if only because he wanted to know the answer.

"Please, help me."

* * *

_A short chapter, and for that I apologize. I've been sick, and I know my co-author has been waiting on me. Don't hate me too much, but this is where Grimmjow wanted to go today._

_~dwr_


	12. Strength

She'd pointed out the shrine to him, was all ready to lead him there, when he swept her up into his arms and left, moving with supernatural speed, and carrying her as lightly as he would a feather. He held her closely; somehow, he had the warmth of a human body, despite having no heart, being as inhuman as he could get.

She clung tightly to him; to his strong arms, his strong body. She didn't notice as he passed the shrine once, twice, three times... but she did notice when he whispered to her as he set her down on the fourth.

She looked up at him, surprised as he begged Rei for help. This man didn't beg. Rei's face was hard; she was about to turn him away, when Ami turned to her friend.

"Please. For me."

Rei looked at her, shocked, annoyed, but she nodded, calming. She knew Ami's reasoning.

They took him back inside; re-bandaged his wounds. Ami stayed with him all the while, holding his hand in hers without even realizing it as the others did their work. He took it bravely, never showing pain. That's just how he was; he wouldn't ever show his pain. His strength wasn't just the strength of his muscled body, but of his hardened, non-existent heart. He didn't let things get to him because he would be... weak.

She didn't know how she knew this, or how she'd come to figure it out. It was just... there. As if she'd always known; and maybe, she always had. He wasn't the only one who'd ever pushed love away.

She wanted to get to know him. Push past those barriers, those fears, and find the person within. He was wild, feral, untamed, unconquered, but it was part of his beauty, part of his strength. She wanted to see that strength again.

She smiled, watching the others put the last finishing touches on his bandaging.

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," she whispered in his ear. "You are as stubborn, frustrating, and irritating as you are intelligent, strong, and handsome. But no matter how hard you fight me, I'm not giving up on you. That's a promise."

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the second short chapter in a row. I hope you like! ~Miri_


	13. Eclipse

He sighed inwardly as he nodded his thanks to the black-haired woman who'd helped him despite her feelings about him. Then, he allowed his eyes to shut briefly, allowing his body; a moment of much needed rest. As he did, his thoughts drifted to the woman who'd been bothering him so over the last few years of his life. And as much as it pained him to admit it, he was tired of fighting.

He was tired of fighting her. He was tired of fighting the voice in his mind; the one that told him that this would all be over if he would just _surrender _to her. He was tired of the word "surrender" because it denoted weakness and he _wasn't _weak. He was tired of being angry, especially since all of his anger was directed at her, when there were plenty of other places to put it.

He blamed her for things that weren't her fault. He blamed her for being in his mind despite everything that was going on. He blamed her for his own damned weakness when Noitra had cut him so severely when the truth was that he was so exhausted from his extended battle with Kurosaki that he would've collapsed in moments. He blamed her that Kurosaki had taken a blow for him. He blamed her that she had gotten _angry with him_ when he had caused that anger.

All he wanted now was to give in… but he couldn't. There was too much at stake, and he wouldn't let her fall on her sword to love him that easily… if only because he wasn't sure he could give her that feeling in return. With this in mind, he opened his eyes and looked at their intertwined hands (_when had that happened?_)

"Look…" he started, unsure of how he would proceed. Pushing through that uncertainty, he continued. "Look, you can't say that to me. You can't say something like that to me… because I don't understand it at all," he finally finished, meeting her eyes for the first time. Her blue orbs showed her frustration; frustration he was sure was mirrored in his own.

And suddenly, there was a sharp impact on the back of his head. He turned with irritation to look at the tall brunette who was glaring at him. "You can't understand? How can you not?" she demanded, as if what was happening was the simplest concept in existence. And all he wanted to do was yell at her, tell her to mind her own damn business. But he found that his exhaustion wouldn't allow it.

"Don't you think I want to?" he asked the tall woman. Before she could answer, he stood up while disentangling his and Ami's hands. "Do you know where I come from? What shit I've been through? What I _am?_ _Don't look down on me, goddamnit!_" he yelled, the outburst pushing through his body's tiredness. Her eyes widened, and she backed up. Grimmjow's eyes pierced her, before he finally closed them again.

As much as it pissed him off, the brunette had a point. There was no way the tall woman or his princess (he didn't even notice that he wasn't fighting calling her that anymore) could truly understand. Turning to stare at Ami, he began to speak again. "I can't explain it to you. I can only show you. Come with me."

Ami nodded before standing up. The black-haired miko crossed the room to her, stepping protectively near Ami. The blunette's eyes widened as Grimmjow spoke again. "Look, you want her to have an explanation so damn bad, then you've gotta let me give it to her. I ain't gonna hurt her, so calm the fuck down."

Any other words that the others might have had were cut off by Ami's quiet voice. "I'll be fine, everyone. I can take care of myself. Besides," she started, holding up her communicator, "If I need help, I'll call you."

The others were satisfied, so Grimmjow led Ami out of the shrine. After they were a good distance away from the building, he turned to her. "Whatever happens, stay close to me. It's gonna be hellish getting there."

Before Ami could answer, he'd drawn a line to open the Garganta and pulled her inside. His _reishi_ stabilized the path within moments, and he began to run, looking behind him to make sure she had done the same.

* * *

_It took a bit of work to get this out of me. Illness, plus a muse that is in general, a rude jerk who works against me made things difficult. However, I'm pleased with the result, as well as the length._

_~dwr_


	14. Questions

She ran after him, following as close as she could, in the wierd landscape of black with the white path stretching out before them. She hadn't had time to change into her Sailor Mercury form before she was taken, otherwise she would have been eagerly sing her goggles to see what this place was...

But, in a way, she was glad she hadn't, because she realized that the path was disappearing behind them as they ran.

She focused on keeping up with him, keeping her eyes on the path ahead, but she couldn't help glancing up at him from time to time.

What kind of place were they going to? Obviously, from his outburst earlier, where he had appeared from; where he lived. She thought back to what he had called himself - a Hollow; an Espada. What did that mean?

Maybe, she was about to find out.

What kind of a world was it? He was such a harsh, wild person - maybe it was a harsh, wild land. Was it a jungle, where the only laws were predator and prey, the hunt and the kill and the feast afterward? Or... was it, perhaps, a desert, where the fight to survive was much more intense; where the environment could kill as easily as a predator? She didn't know. In a way, she was anticipating seeing; she wanted to know, so she could understand this strange, alien man who had stolen her heart when she wasn't looking.

Where had he grown up, learned the lessons of strength so harsh they left no room for love? What was he, that he so violently opposed her caring about him? He spoke as if he were a monster, and she supposed he might be right - the others certainly acted as if he were.

She glanced up at him again and realized that she'd always understood that he was more than that. Yes, a predator he may be, even a demon, but he was something more. He almost seemed to be searching for something - maybe it was the thing he kept running from.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a light sprouting in the distance,separate from the faintly-glowing white pathway, and she looked at it quizzically.

Her companion grined, stepped into the ligh, and pulled her through.

"We're here."


	15. Forget

They appeared in the deserts of Hueco Mundo, feet away from a scene of… horrifying appeal.

In front of them, a small group of Hollows lay under the feet of another larger Hollow. This Hollow stood above them, with the remains of what could only be assumed to be a former Hollow in his mouth. He paid the two no mind; he had his meal for now. Grimmjow began to lead Ami away from them.

"What you just saw is what I've come from. "

Off in the distance, spikes of _reishi _were visible; capable of being seen and felt by the two of them. Grimmjow recognized them easily; Kurosaki and Ulquiorra were fighting. He would make sure to stay away from it; not because he was concerned he couldn't survive, but he had promised this girls friends that she would return unharmed.

"Devour or be devoured."

They made their way towards a dune.

"Kill or be killed."

They reached the top of the dune, which allowed them to clearly see _Las Noches_. Above it, clashes from the earlier seen _reishi _were visible almost as flashes of dangerous lightning. Grimmjow looked to Ami.

"Trample or be trampled."

Down below them, a group of Hollows were fighting in a battle to the death. Grimmjow watched them fight for just a moment before closing his eyes. "I can't understand having friends like you do. My 'friends' followed me until they thought they were too weak to go on. I devoured those comrades when I realized all they could do was hold me back."

The battle raged on below them, the participants not acknowledging the two from above them. The first of the Hollows fell to the wayside. It weakly looked up to the battle it had fallen from originally, then to Grimmjow and Ami. Its eyes widened for a moment before it weakly slumped to the ground, exhausted. Grimmjow pointed to him.

"He's a casualty of this society. Whoever wins this battle will eat him. I devoured my 'friends' because they were too weak to follow, and my 'comrades' would devour me at the first sign of powerlessness."

He looked to her, a frown on his face. "I don't understand what you feel, because I can't. Love doesn't exist here. Friends don't exist here. Comrades exist in the basest sense, and would strike me down in a fit of rage if it fit them. And half of those idiots would do it if I so much as turned my back on them. Noitra did; that's how I ended up on that chick's doorstep."

His eyes closed; a sigh passing his lips.

"Do you know what I mean? I don't understand what you are saying because there's no way for me to. So, you might as well give up. I'll take you back to the shrine; forget about me."


	16. Beauty

She gazed out at the horrors around her, watched this empty world and its unforgiving ways, in shock and fear.

This was the land he came from, the world he'd lived in since birth. She heard his story, the anger and darkness within, and began to feel a sympathy for this strange man, who was an animal and somehow something _more_ instead of _less_ because of it.

Her visor, while not visible, recorded what she saw for analysis later, as she watched the battle below with a morbid, unexplained fascination.

It was as harsh a world as she had imagined, and even harsher in some regards, but something about it called to her with its lawless, desolate, untameable beauty.

A thousand questions raced through her mind as she listened - why was he different from the others she'd seen? What kind of power had he been searching for? What was it like?

Ami was far from giving up - his words only made her want to know more. Her pursuit had always been knowledge, and now, she wanted to know about _him_, and this strange world he called home.

She turned to him, those thousands of questions in her eyes, and began to speak.

"Maybe... you can't understand," she begaan, choosing her words carefully as she thought about what she wished to say, "and maybe I can't, either. But... I want to. I want to know about your world, scary and brutal and different as it is. And I want you to learn about mine, as well. And... maybe we'll never truly succeed, never really feel what the other feels, but really... does anyone? We might be able to understand _enough._ You teach me about this world, about your ways and your strengths and the beauty you see here; then I'll teach you about mine, and feeling and light and the life that lives there. Then, maybe, just maybe... we'll learn that we're not so different after all."

She could feel everything around her; all the power and majesty, overwhelming her and pulling her in, deadly and yet wonderful. She could see the expansive wastelands, sparkling with diamond-white sand under the black maw of the starless sky and lit by the stark light of the moon, and she started to understand what it was about this place, about him, that drew her.

_Everything here lives by its own law, walks its own path, and the only destiny it has is the one it makes for itself. There's a strange kind of freedom in that; a liberty in lawlessness and a serenity in savagery. This world is dangerous, but it is free._ _And it is beautiful just for that._

_

* * *

_

_I had a hard time writing this chapter because I was afraid too many of my chaps were sounding way too similar; DWR helped me through that, though, and my inspiration broke through my self-doubt. I like the picture I paint of Ami-chan in this chapter. I don't think it's too too short. ~Miri  
_


	17. Temperance

It took him far too long to respond, and the resulting silence had went on for too lengthy of a period to name. It made him feel uncomfortable, which seemed to be the story of his life nowadays.

'_Damn woman,'_ he thought quietly. He now knew much better than to fight what he was denying that he was feeling; if only because of that annoyingly (correct) voice in his mind. He wanted to leave, he wanted to leave this girl who had somehow become part of him despite his arguments to the contrary and his insults to hide it. Somehow, someway, this woman had done what none had managed to do ever; to become close to the _Sexta Espada._

Slowly, agonizingly, he turned to her.

"Ami, I'm sorry," he said, finally breaking the deepening silence.

His noted use of her name was shocking, at least it appeared so by her suddenly facing him, her eyes wide. Even behind that shock, however, he saw something that startled him... for in her eyes he saw cautious hope. He decided to press on; he would try to be gentle.

Needless to say, that action was unusual for him.

"I don't know how to feel what you're asking me to feel. I've never had to. I've never had loyalty or love for anyone except myself, cause the rest of those damn idiots," he started, motioning to their surroundings, "-never deserved it to begin with. I've only ever wanted power; even Aizen recognized that."

He realized she had no idea who he was talking about, and it disturbed him to note that he hoped that she never would.

"But something's different, and the fact that you're damnably persistent probably doesn't help much."

He paused, allowing himself to choose his words carefully; another foreign action to him. Anything careful truthfully was. He took a step away from her, allowing himself to collect his thoughts. And suddenly, he came to a realization...

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I want what you're offering. I want happiness in a way that I've never had it before. I want fulfillment in something other than succeeding in battle. I want something more than the bullshit that Aizen offers, or Barragan ever offered, or the _fucking Soul Society would offer!_" he exclaimed, his voice heightening as he went.

The vulgarity raised, but it seemed to be out of true excitement; something had changed. Something huge had changed, but what was it?

"Maybe it's crazy, but maybe I've seen what that jackass Kurosaki has. Maybe someday I want to be able to fight through hordes of mindless drones for one thing, or one person, or some goddamn goal! Maybe I'm sick and tired of being looked down on because I enjoy the fight and who the fuck knows? Maybe I don't enjoy the fight anymore!"

He stopped, whipping around with an accusation in his eyes; but if the accusation was at her, it was impossible to say.

"Maybe chasing prey is boring, maybe I've been so goddamn _bored with everything_! What is so great about what you are offering me, and why the hell do I suddenly want it so _fucking much_?"

He was breathing heavily. The realizations were coming so quickly; he needed to temper them. They wouldn't allow themselves to be tempered, however. He had spoken these words into the void, and his cerulean haired princess. And like it or not, he had dreamt of her after seeing her that one time.

'_Bite me,'_ he commented at his inner voice; he didn't care what it had to say at the moment.

* * *

_Hi. There's no other way of saying that this delay is my fault. It's been a rough couple of months, but I've got my creativity back. Hope you enjoy it.  
~DWR _


	18. Together

She watched him, listened to him, opened her heart and heard with more than her ears.

She didn't understand the words or terms he used, the titles, the references to events in his past, a past she suddenly realized that would end up a closed book to her. He didn't _want_ her to see the monster he had been, to understand him.

She heard it in his voice as he raged at the void – longing. The need to belong, to be _human_ when he was so far from it. She heard the raw edge of anguish in his tone and the sheer _hunger_ for what he'd never dared to dream existed before.

He was trying to be gentle for her. And it hurt him, but only because he didn't know how to be the person he wanted to become. He didn't know how to get what he wanted, what he hungered for, what he _craved more than anything else._

Her smile was soft as she reached for his hand. Her hands were small, delicate where his were large and rough. He seemed somewhat surprised, looking down at where she held his hand between the pair of hers, then back up to her face.

"Ami?" he asked. It was the second time he'd used her name, and it still sounded strange coming off of his tongue, as if he weren't exactly sure with to make of it. She smiled a little bigger.

She looked out, back over the void, the desolate landscape, the nighttime desert that had created both horror and beauty. The place he'd come from. He followed her gaze, to the clashes of energy below, to the edge of the horizon, and possibly beyond.

"I don't pretend to have all the answers. I'm still trying to learn it all myself. And maybe there _are_ no right answers. But I think… I think that will be alright." She looked back at him again, drew his hand up towards her heart, and held it there.

"Come back with me," she told him softly, looking up into his eyes, "and maybe we can find out. _Together."_

She held her breath, waited for another criticism, but it seemed he was finally out of those. He looked down at his free hand, unoccupied by anything but memories.

He wasn't exactly sentimental, though, so he shook his head, snorted in derision at himself, then flashed her a cocky grin, one that looked far more at home on his face than any melancholy expression.

"Okay, then, woman. We'll try it goddamn Kuosaki's way for a while. Can't be any more boring than sticking around here watching somebody _else_ kick that punk's ass."

Her own smile broke into a grin.

Boring? With him around, she doubted it very much.

"Lead the way home, then," she told him.

He scooped her up into his arms; the gateway opened ahead of them. He turned away without a second glance and sped back down the passageway.

_This time, the break is assuredly my fault. While re-reading DWR's amazing last chapter, my brain hit on a sudden surge of inspiration. Then it promptly began fighting me again, so I had to kick it back into submission. THis may or may not be the last chapter; I'll leave that up to DWR to decide. I wrote it so it could be an ending, but if there's something he'd like to add, he's welcome to it. ~Miri_


End file.
